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The Last Guardian
The Last Guardian is a novel in Stones of Power series featuring Jon Shannow. The book was written by David Gemmell and published in 1989. Summary Synopsis Chapter 1 The Last Guardian picks up immediately after the conclusion of Wolf in Shadow. The year is 2341 AD, and Shannow is traveling in the mountains south of the Plague Lands. He is dying from wounds sustained while defending farmers from brigands, when he is rescued by lion-man Shir-ran. Shir-ran explained to Shannow that in this land, the people were turning into animals and the Dark Lady, who dwells with the Dianae (lion-men), has spoken of Shannow. The bears had completed their transformation, but the lions and wolvers were being led by the Dark Lady. After four days, Shir-ran's transformation into a lion is complete, and he attacks Shannow. Shannow regretfully kills the beast leaves the lair of Shir-ran. Chapter 2 The city of Ad - 9364 BC - Nu-Khasisatra, a shipbuilder in the city of Ad, has seen visions of the fall of the world. Nu interrupts a ceremony of human sacrafices to criticize the current king and self-proclaimed god (), praise the original god (Chronos), and prophosize the fall of the world, specifically referring to the sword of god. After Nu shatters the crystal that was absorbing the blood of the sacrifices, the guards are struck down by lighting. Nu leaves the temple, but is recognized, and word is passes to Sharazad, the leader of the Daggers (lizard-soldiers), who begin a hunt for Nu. Chapter 3 2341 AD - Shannow continues his journey south, and encounters the camp of five Brigands. When the leader of the Brigand group, Lee Patterson, discovers Shannow's identity, he asks if Shannow is hunting them. Shannow states he is merely heading south. Lee says the land to the south is known as the Wild Lands, and there is a place there with floating statues, one of which is known as the Sword of God. Chapter 4 The city of Ad - 9364 BC - While fleeing frome the Daggers, Nu hides in an eating house where he reflects on a meeting with his wife, Pashad, and she attempts to convince him not to go through with his plans to defy the king. As two Daggers enter the eating house, a fortune teller joins Nu and though unwanted, he reads Nu his fortune. He prophocises that Nu will travel far, though not over land or sea, and that he will encounter a grey rider with great power. The Daggers leave the eating house paying no heed to Nu. Chapter 5 2341 AD - Beth McAdam, widow of Sean McAdam (who died of the Red Fever), and her two children, Samual and Mary, are traveling when their wagon breaks a wheel. While contmplating how to replace the damaged wheel, the family is approached by six Brigands, led by Harry Cooper, who is from Allion. Beth tricks Harry into getting close enough to her for her to threaten him with her gun, and Harry convinces his men to replace the broken wagon wheel. When complete, Harry tells the other five Brigands to ride back to their camp, which upsets one Brigand in particular, Quint. Harry and Beth converse civilly, and Beth says she is on her way to Pilgrim's Valley. Harry then rides back to the Brigand camp, omly to be murdered by Quint, who has plans to return to Beth. Chapter 6 9364 BC - Nu arrives at the home of his friend, Bali. He it is revealed that Nu is 110 years old, and Bali 190. They were able to maintain their youth by using sistrappi shards. However, Bali has fallen on hard times, and can no longer afford the precious fragments. To aid his friend's escape, Bali gives Nu a full Sipstrassi stone, which he claims to have purchased from a trader who mistook the stone for a gold nugget. Bali tells Nu of a stone circle within the town that, with the aid of the stone, can transport Nu to another city, Balacris. Nu leaves Bali for the stone circle and then it is revealed that Bali murdered the trader to obtain the Sipstrassi. Once Bali is gone, Daggers, led by Shazrad, enter Bali's home looking for Nu. When Bali defies them, one of the Daggers shoots Bali. Chapter 7 2341 AD - Continuing his journey, Shannow comes across the tracks of a wagon, then a broken wagon wheel. Following the trails of horses leaving the site of the broken wheel, Shannow arrives at the deserted Brigand camp, and finds Harry, who is still alive remarkably, however, he only lives long enough to tell Shannow that the others went after the girl. Shannow departs the camp in search of Beth and her wagon. Beth continues her journey to Pilgram's Valley, when Quint and the other Brigands catch up to her. When they are approaching, Beth kills Quint, and Mary kills another, which convinces the others to leave the family alone. Chapter 8 9364 BC - Nu arrives at the stone circle, which appears unguarded, but when he approaches, he finds Sharazad and some Daggers have been waiting for him. He manages to get to the circle and escape the Daggers, but does not arrive in Balacris as expected. Instead, he is in a strange land next to a dead man in strange clothing. His Sipstrassi stone still has some power left after the journey, and he uses some to dress himself in identical garb to the nearby dead man. He has no idea where to go, so he follows some horse tracks leading from the camp. After questioning Pashad, Sharazad meets with the soldier, Rhodaeul, and tells him that she knows where Nu has disappeared to. She explains that the stone circle is linked to a new land that was discovered two months ago, where her Daggers obtained pistols. Sharazad tells Rhodaeul that the King want him to train with pistols. Rhodaeul is not happy about this, but agrees and Sharazad lists some people who are notorous with the weapons, including Johnson, Crowe, Daniel Cade, and Shannow. Chapter 9 2341 AD - While following Beth's wagon trail, Shannow comes upon the two dead Brigands, and his respect for her grows. Next he comes across an excavation site where locals are attempting to unearth an long iron building with small windows and doors (revealed to be a boat, but the diggers do not believe Shannow). He he meets Klaus Monet, who describes the time before the fall as the "Dark Times". After purchasing supplies, Shannow meets Beth at the site. Just after introductions, they are inturrupted by the lead Arcanist of the dig site, Boris Heimut, who is interested in Shannow's thoughts on the boat. They leave Beth to discuss theories, and Heimut describes two opposing theories on the world's history: the Oldview/Biblical theory holds that the current time is the Last Days and that Armageddon began 317 years ago; while the Longview believes that at least 1000 years have passed since the death of Jesus, and that a previous civilizations held wonders that are now lost to the world, and Heimut believes the discovery of the boat will support this. When Heimut asks Shannow how such a large boat arrived in an area surrounded by land, Shannow explains that Samual Archer proved to him that the world has fallen twice in the past. Later that night, Boris asks Shannow to join the site to defend it from a local leader named Edric Scyse, who has put his own man in charge of the site, Deiker. Shannow refuses and the next day, after humiliating two of Dieker's men who had come to force him to leave the dig site, he continues his journey towards the Great Wall. With the wall and Pilgrim's Valley both in sight, Shannow decides to stop at the town to relax before continuing his journey. Chapter 10 Chreena, known as the Dark Lady because of her black skin, is attempting to reverse Oshere's slow transformation into a lion, which she failed at with Shir-ran. While taking a break from her work, Chreena describes the theories of the first fall of the world, which saw the Atlantean continent submerged under water. When Chreena returns to her work, Oshere reflects back on the arriaval of Chreena to the Dianae settlement, the death of her sickly son, her her short-lived romantic relationship with his brother, the prince Shir-ran, and Shir-ran's transformation and departure. Chreena had discovered that the Dianae were a product of experiments done in the Between times (the era between the two time the world fell). The experiment turned lions into men, and now those genetics were breaking down and the people were reverting back into lions. Later that night, Chreena mourns her deceased husband, Samual Archer, a Guardian who died after being beaten at Castlemine in Wolf in Shadow. Chapter 11 Shannow makes plans to stay in Pilgrim's Valley for 3 days before continuing his journey south past the great wall. On the first day, he meets a gunfighter, Clem Steiner. On the second day, he once again meets Boris, who tells Shannow of the rampant crime in the town. Later, Shannow encounters a priest. While resting, Shannow inspects a gold coin he obtained before leaving Shir-ran's cave. The coin has an imagemimprinted that matches Boris' description of the Sword of God, south of the wall. A group of Scayse's men rides into town dragging a mostly transformed Dianae, which is killed. One of the riders had stolen Shannow's horse. Shannow knocks the man from his horse and returns it to the stable, where the holster explains that there used to be many more of the beasts before the gates in the wall disappeared. South, Chreena regrets using the last of her Sipstrassi's power to hide the gates when it could have been used to save Shir-ran, or her son, Luke. Chapter 12 Josiah Broome, owner of the eating hall in Pilgrim's Valley, tends to the injured rider and condems Shannow's violent way of recovering his horse. Beth disagrees, but bites her tongue because she now works for Broome as a serving girl. When the rider recovers, he sets off after Shannow. Beth arrives at the stable in time to warn Shannow, a draw ensues, and the injured rider is now dead. Shannow returns to the inn, where Steiner tells him that Scayse wants to talk to him, but shannow ignores the request. Scayse then goes to Shannow's room, and tells him that he wishes to be a leader of men, and does not seek to abuse or misuse his power. He also knows of Sistrappi and Shannow's encounter at the Titanic (events at the conclusion of Wolf in Shadow) and that he plans to lead his gathered force south, past the Great Wall. Shannow is not convinced that Scayse is not an evil man. Chapter 13 Nu uses his sistrappi to free is spirit from his body and fly amongst the clouds. When he flies south, the recognizes the Great Wall as the sea wall in Atlantis, then he recognizes features of Pilgrim's Valley that resemble the city of Ad. He then realizes he did not travel across land from the stone circle, but across time. Nu weeps for his long-dead wife and children. Chapter 14 Walking home from working at the inn, Beth is attacked by two Brigands. The Parson kills one and scares the other away before escorting her back to her wagon. The next morning, Shannow is approached by two residents of Pilgrim's Valley, Brisley and Fenner, who also ask Shannow to rid the town of the evil men like Scayse and Webber, a crooked gambling hall owner. Chapter 15 Shannow visits the local gunsmith Groves, to stock up on ammunition before leaving town, however, Groves says it will take a week for him to make the bullets. Shannow returns to the innkeeper, Mason, to extend his stay in town. Shannow then rides south to explore the Great Wall, where he finds Boris Haimut. Boris was sent away from the boat dig site by Scayse's men, however, now he is employed by Scayse to examine the wall and find a way though. Chapter 16 Chapter 17 This page is a work in progress. Chapt Category:Novels Category:Stones of Power series